Saturday, November 9, 2013

The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys




I love a book that takes a central theme and imagines it in different ways. For example, Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman looks at Time (I wrote about it here), and his Mr. G (here) mulls over the creation of the universe. In Sum (here), David Eagleman writes variations on afterlives. 

In The Frozen Thames (2007), author Helen Humphreys offers up dreamy, brief stories - part real, part imaginary - of the forty times in history that the river Thames was frozen solid.

The tales begin in 1142 with the escape in a snowstorm of Queen Matilda, daughter of Henry I, from her besieged castle. Then come stories of lovers and hunters and skaters. There are the Frost Fairs -  whole cities built upon the ice. Merchants have set up booths, fashioned from blankets, filled with slabs of roast beef for sale; a printing press cranks out souvenirs of the event; coffee house and tavern owners serve customers on the solid ice that just months before was a sweeping river. 

The ice some years is smooth and is fine for skating and walking; other times, deadly ice floes crunch and move about with malice. It is so cold that frozen birds fall from the sky; wine freezes in its barrels; water turns to ice in a glass left on one's bedside table.

And so it goes through plague years, the deaths of kings, the Great London Fire, until in 1895, the river froze for the final time. The deepening of the channel and the reconstruction of the London Bridge all contrived to keep the Thames flowing swiftly preventing ice from calling a halt to her current.

This is a small book (5-inches by 6-inches, 180 pages) that contains big meditations on love, loss, ice, water, nature, and the lives of everyday folks. There are wonderful images that accompany the text. It is a treasure and one that I will reread, I am sure. A true keeper.

6 comments:

  1. This sounds like a wonderful little book, I really enjoyed reading your review. In fact, I've been unable to resist temptation and just brought a copy for myself. I'm just dipping my toe into the world of book blogging and love stumbling across new and different things to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura. TFT really is a splendid book. I had not heard of it but stumbled across a pristine copy of it at a used book store. What a pleasant surprise to find it so entertaining. Hope you enjoy it too!

      Thanks for your comment!

      Delete
  2. Belle so pleased you enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading your review of "The Lost Garden" and "Coventry" in due course.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tullik, I am happy to report that the public library has both of these titles. Two more for my list. I really enjoyed Ms. Humphrey's style!

      Delete
  3. Belle, I don't know this author and this book sounds wonderful. I'll have to see if I can find anything by this author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kat, I was quite taken with Ms. Humphrey's imagination and prose style. She has six or seven other novels published and a few books of poetry. I too will be looking into her other work.

      Delete